Freedom is nearly always blamed for the bad consequences of unfreedom, that is, of government intervention. Take immigration. We hear these days that migrant gangs are killing, terrorizing, and stealing from Americans. Some immigrants without government papers have...
Economics
The Soul of a Socialist
From the pen of H. G. Wells (1908), socialist: War is a collective concern; to turn one’s back upon it, to refuse to consider it as a possibility, is to leave it entirely to those who are least prepared to deal with it in a broad spirit. In many ways war is the most...
TGIF: Full versus Shrunken Liberalism
Language, like the old common law and other customs, is a decentralized, undesigned, spontaneous institution. It serves humanity well. Nothing is perfect, of course, but no alternative—if one were conceivable—could hold a candle to it. One of the downsides is that...
The Rich Love Inflation, And Will Never Give It Up (Willingly)
“The inflation tax, while largely ignored, hurts middle-class and low-income Americans the most,” Ron Paul wrote back in 2006, concluding that “Federal spending, deficits, and Federal Reserve mischief hurt the poor while transferring wealth to the already rich.” A...
TGIF: Tariffying Trade-Warmonger Trump
"The word tariff, properly used, is a beautiful word. One of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard. It’s music to my ears." —Donald Trump The once and possibly future president threatens to wage economic warfare against countries and companies everywhere if they...
Don’t Oversell China’s Economic Crisis
Recent headlines regarding China’s economy have painted a grim picture. From sagging stock markets to the continuing, multidimensional real-estate crises, there is no shortage of negative news coming out of the world’s second-largest economy. Yet while these...
Wage Stagflation: The Government’s All-Out War on the Middle Class
If you are middle class and lately feel like you're not getting ahead, you're not wrong. The economic facts bear this out. The middle class household is taking home about the same in inflation-adjusted dollars after taxes today compared to their income in 1971....
TGIF: Who Cares about Inequality?
What accounts for the preoccupation with income and wealth inequality? We hear about it every day. Isn't our absolute living standard what matters and whether it is improving or deteriorating? I'll bet that's what regular people care about. However, the professional...
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